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Judge David Hale told Chambers: ‘As far as he [Mr Wall] is concerned you murdered his wife - in law you haven’t.’

Other members of the family were in the public seats and afterwards praised the judge for his comments and said they understood he was limited by law in the sentence he could pass.

Prosecuting, Oliver King described how Chambers had discharged himself from hospital after surgery for septicaemia.

Mr King said he became paranoid on heroin and cocaine, believing he was being pursued by a man with a gun.

Kevin Chambers, pictured, was shocked to discover that Carole Wall had died and was 'profoundly sorry'

At 11.30pm in September last year Mr and Mrs Wall and their 28-year-old son Neal were at their home relaxing downstairs when they heard banging and a voice shouting: ‘He’s trying to kill me. He’s got a gun.’

They were terrified at seeing Chambers with a claw hammer and Mrs Wall collapsed.

Mr King said that due to Mrs Wall’s pre-existing heart condition it was highly likely that stress had brought on the heart attack.

When police arrived Chambers was still agitated and was taken to hospital because of his septicaemia and kept in for a fortnight.

He’d told police he believed he was being chased by a man with a gun and ran towards the house to seek help.

Mr King said since that night Mr Wall and his son had not felt able to return to the house.

In a victim statement Mr Wall called his wife the ‘only person he had ever loved’.

The barrister said Chambers had 20 previous convictions for 37 offences, mostly for shoplifting and handling stolen goods, though while on bail in January he had been given a four weeks suspended sentence for punching someone in Sainsbury’s at Llandudno and stealing a Satnav.

Defence counsel Andrew Ford said Chambers had been shocked to discover that Mrs Wall had died, was ‘profoundly sorry’ and appeared genuinely remorseful.

After discharging himself from hospital Mr Ford said Chambers had become paranoid, confused, erratic and demanding help.

He had not made any threats and after six months on remand was now receiving methadone to wean himself off drugs.

A probation officer told the judge that Chambers had explained he had been hallucinating and ‘looking for help’.

St David's Road, Llandudno, where the incident happened at around 11.30pm in September 2013

Judge Hale pointed out that if, instead of drugs, Chambers had drunk two bottles of whisky and become hopelessly drunk, that would not be mitigation.

He sentenced him to a month for damaging the door and a concurrent two years for having the weapon. He took into account the consequences and Mrs Wall’s accelerated death.

Outside the court Mrs Wall’s brother Andrew Nelson said: ‘The greatest tragedy is that Carole was the most gentle, loving and giving person. To her, an act of violence was abhorrent. We are extremely grateful to the judge for his remarks.’

Carole’s sister Janine Roberts said: ‘We will never think that real justice has been done, but understand that the judge is constrained by the law and we are very grateful to him.’

The family said they were also grateful for all the support they had received, including from the media.

At an inquest in March a Home Office pathologist said Mrs Wall had ‘severe’ heart disease and would have been at risk of sudden death.

‘In my view she wouldn’t have died when she did if this incident hadn’t occurred,’ he added. ‘She may have carried on for many, many years.’